STATE OF BIHAR AND OTHERS ETC. vs AKHOURI SACHINDRA NATH AND OTHERS ETC.

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision quashing the Government Orders dated 12.7.1975, 20.1.1976, and 9.4.1977 that conferred retrospective seniority on promotees in the Bihar Engineering Service. The Court held that such promotions were arbitrary and illegal as they prejudicially affected the rights of directly recruited Assistant Engineers who were appointed prior to the promotees. The Court established that seniority cannot be conferred retrospectively from a date when the promotees were not part of the cadre.